This invention relates generally to containers, and more specifically to apparatus, assemblies, and methods for facilitating filling containers with a substance.
At least some known methods of filling empty containers with a substance, for example filling empty bags with starch, sugar, dry chemicals, cement, or concrete mix, are sometimes more difficult, costly, and time-consuming than may be desired. In commercial operations where numerous filling machines are used to fill as many empty containers in as short a time as possible, it may be particularly challenging to feed containers to each of the filling machines as quickly as they are filled. Accordingly, a potential production rate of the filling machines may not be achieved because of a bottleneck of containers fed to the filling machines. For example, at least some known systems for filling empty bags with concrete mix use one feeding machine to feed empty bags to numerous filling machines. Accordingly, the filling machines may sometimes fill each empty bag with concrete faster than empty bags are fed thereto, possibly decreasing an overall production of bags filled with concrete mix. Some known systems for filling empty bags with concrete mix use a dedicated feeding machine for each filling machine. However, such systems using a dedicated feeding machine for each filling machine may supply each feeding machine from a separate supply of empty bags, thereby possibly increasing a cost and/or a complexity of supplying the empty bags as well as possibly decreasing an amount of space adjacent the filling machines.
Moreover, at least some known containers may be difficult to open and/or maintain open for filling thereof, possibly increasing a cost and/or complexity of feeding machines used to feed containers to the filling machines. For example, bags used to contain concrete mix may be folded generally flat for storage when empty. Such bags sometimes include an opening adjacent an end thereof for filling the bag with concrete mix. When such bags are folded generally flat, the opening may be closed. When a feeding machine feeds an empty bag to a filling machine, the feeding machine may therefore open (and maintain) the opening as it delivers the empty bag to the filling machine so a dispenser on the filling machine communicates with the opening to fill the bag with concrete mix. At least some known systems use a pneumatically or hydraulically driven claw to both grip an empty bag for delivery of the bag to a filling machine and maintain the opening. However, such pneumatically or hydraulically driven claws may increase a cost and complexity of the system. At least some known systems may also use an insert, which may also be pneumatically or hydraulically driven, to initially open the opening, possibly further increasing a cost and complexity of the system.